Would you Crowd Fund a New Blizzard MMO?

[zemerax]

MMO's take to long to develop and are a complete gamble, and after Blizzard canned Titan after investing 7 years of work into it, I see no future for MMO's for Blizzard.

Also Star Citizen has promised way more than It can ever deliver that game is going to be a massive let down to alot of people.

[Kyr]

would i like to see a new blizzard MMO? sure

would I crowdfund one..... HELL THE FUCK NO. why would blizzard need to crowdfund a new game? just the idea of it is absurd

[spinner981]

No, blizzard has plenty of money as it is.

[Chompiras]

Crowd fund MMO...

Hell.

No.

I don't care if an all star team of the greatest developers in the history of the world came together to make it, I would have no part of it.

With all due respect sir, you crazy. If the greatest developers in the history of gaming came together to make the next gen MMO, they would get all the support they needed. That's the whole point of crowd funding. You are providing free capital for a game that you would love to play and from people you have confidence can get the job done. That is why crowd funding the next gen MMO for blizzard is not crazy in my mind. I think people can't get over the idea that an already rich company would ask for help.

[Frolk]

Me? no
But dont underestimate people and their will to give it away to companies, if Apple started a crowd fund for the iphone 7, ppl would stand in line to give them money

[AztechZero]

I don't think I could justify contributing to a crowdfunding campaign for a project being made by any AAA studio.

[Deleted]

No. A crowd funded game would never be as good as one that Blizzard produces entirely in house.

The over sensitive players who feel entitled to a voice in the development of the game would be even worse.

[Nynax]

You know.... Blizzard games are already kinda crowdfunded a bit.

They just call it "pre-orders."

[SL1200]

Does pre ordering Legion count?

[Williamgood]

People use kickstarter because they don't have money and/or they can't find a publisher willing to front them money...

Eh, some of them I question....

[dope_danny]

That's the whole point of crowd funding. You are providing free capital for a game that you would love to play and from people you have confidence can get the job done.

No, thats not the point of crowd funding at all. Crowd funding came about for small independent studios who lacked the ability to or simply failed to find funding through traditional means to get the capital to produce their product from the goodwill donations of people who liked the idea and wanted to see it made. Having confidence they could get the job done is the reason you give them money but it has nothing to do with them being big industry names and in fact the whole idea started so small no names could get a fair chance.

The practice you are talking about, large wealthy companies getting people to double dib by paying them to make the game they will buy anyway is what we call "milking the dumb rubes for their money". Its not the same thing. Its fleecing the kind of idiots that preorder games in this day and age because they are unaware of the preorder/purchase bank interest/day one sales figures scam. Its not the same as some small team kickstarting a game, its just the hot new way to get more money out of people too stupid to realise how they are being fucked over by a greedy company.

[DesMephisto]

No, but I'd crowd fund Ogres as a playable race in WoW

[Lady Dragonheart]

I believe that they should stick with WoW and not contest their own games.

[Chompiras]

Eh, some of them I question....

Like Star Citizen, they could have easily gone out and get real investor and take business loans to make their dreams come true. Instead they go on kick-starter and get pledges (pre-orders) to get the game going. I don't see anything wrong with Blizzard doing this too. The gaming community would get an incredible AAA MMO game and Blizzard would take on less risk developing such a huge undertaking. I really don't think its crazy to back up blizzard instead of these no-name companies that "might" get it done.

[Nynax]

No, thats not the point of crowd funding at all. Crowd funding came about for small independent studios who lacked the ability to or simply failed to find funding through traditional means to get the capital to produce their product from the goodwill donations of people who liked the idea and wanted to see it made. Having confidence they could get the job done is the reason you give them money but it has nothing to do with them being big industry names and in fact the whole idea started so small no names could get a fair chance.

The practice you are talking about, large wealthy companies getting people to double dib by paying them to make the game they will buy anyway is what we call "milking the dumb rubes for their money". Its not the same thing. Its fleecing the kind of idiots that preorder games in this day and age because they are unaware of the preorder/purchase bank interest/day one sales figures scam. Its not the same as some small team kickstarting a game, its just the hot new way to get more money out of people too stupid to realise how they are being fucked over by a greedy company.

But think about it. Pre-orders. It basically IS a form of crowdfunding for them.

I mean a big part of crowdfunding is just testing to see if there is actually a market for a given product/idea. But Pledgers often "donate" at the level were they get a "free" copy of w/e, it really is basically preorders for all the inexpensive products crowdsourced.

Now look at blizzard, or any game company for that matter, they'll announce a game, show off a few features/in game footage (just like any good kickstarter) and then offer pre-orders a full year in advance.

[AztechZero]

Like Star Citizen, they could have easily gone out and get real investor and take business loans to make their dreams come true. Instead they go on kick-starter and get pledges (pre-orders) to get the game going. I don't see anything wrong with Blizzard doing this too. The gaming community would get an incredible AAA MMO game and Blizzard would take on less risk developing such a huge undertaking. I really don't think its crazy to back up blizzard instead of these no-name companies that "might" get it done.

I don't think it'd be safe to assume the community would get an incredible game just because it's Blizzard. They've made mistakes in the past (some more recent than others) like most other game developers. But that's just me.

[dope_danny]

But think about it. Pre-orders. It basically IS a form of crowdfunding for them.

I mean a big part of crowdfunding is just testing to see if there is actually a market for a given product/idea. But Pledgers often "donate" at the level were they get a "free" copy of w/e, it really is basically preorders for all the inexpensive products crowdsourced.

Now look at blizzard, or any game company for that matter, they'll announce a game, show off a few features/in game footage (just like any good kickstarter) and then offer pre-orders a full year in advance.

True, but the small kickstarter team isnt guaranteed to get their product out at all. Blizzard on the other hand just wants millions of legion preorders sitting in their bank accounts generating a year of interest for them.

Hell part of the big problem with a lot of kickstarters now is people treat it like a game platform and assume they are buying games and lose their minds and go nuclear when shit simply fails. And not fails in some "the person behind it went literally crazy and thinks the sun will kill her if she finishes it" type deal -and yes that really happened once- but sometimes they just fail.

Case in point i put some money up for this charming little fishing game called "Sealark" and it was a one woman 'team' making it. Last i checked it was considered vapourware and she was just putting a few new images on a tumblr every few months swearing it was still being made. For all i know it might have been, but i considered the money lost from the start because the entire thing is a gamble not a promise. I could have gotten a finished game but i wasnt kickstarting it for that, its because it was a neat idea i wanted to charitably contribute to in hopes of seeing it made. That aint always going to happen BECAUSE its meant for small teams.

[Edge-]

But think about it. Pre-orders. It basically IS a form of crowdfunding for them.

...

Now look at blizzard, or any game company for that matter, they'll announce a game, show off a few features/in game footage (just like any good kickstarter) and then offer pre-orders a full year in advance.

That's not related in the slightest.

Crowdfunding seeks to get funding to develop the game, or to work on it while using their crowdfunding success to secure additional outside investment. If they don't get enough crowdfunding, the game either doesn't get made or it gets scaled down considerably due to a lack of funds.

Preorders for a major developer/publisher like Blizzard are largely a way to get as many sales as possible, capitalizing on impulse buys from fans. They don't need them to fund the development of the games - those budgets have already been accounted for and provided/spent - they don't need them to get retail space in stores - Blizzard and other major companies are big enough to justify retail space regardless, though strong preorders help increase the number of units/amount of space retailers may provide them - and they don't need them to get additional outside funding. They're seeking to maximize sales, and one way to do so is to capitalize on marketing promises and hype as early on and have the game available for purchase for as long as possible. This way they can get a direct beneficial result from their pre-launch marketing pushes immediately rather than waiting until launch. It's purely revenue.

[Blueobelisk]

The only thing I'd ever crowdfund is a cool item (in real life) that I want to get. And even then I'd be way on the fence.

[Chompiras]

True, but the small kickstarter team isnt guaranteed to get their product out at all. Blizzard on the other hand just wants millions of legion preorders sitting in their bank accounts generating a year of interest for them.

Hell part of the big problem with a lot of kickstarters now is people treat it like a game platform and assume they are buying games and lose their minds and go nuclear when shit simply fails. And not fails in some "the person behind it went literally crazy and thinks the sun will kill her if she finishes it" type deal -and yes that really happened once- but sometimes they just fail.

Case in point i put some money up for this charming little fishing game called "Sealark" and it was a one woman 'team' making it. Last i checked it was considered vapourware and she was just putting a few new images on a tumblr every few months swearing it was still being made. For all i know it might have been, but i considered the money lost from the start because the entire thing is a gamble not a promise. I could have gotten a finished game but i wasnt kickstarting it for that, its because it was a neat idea i wanted to charitably contribute to in hopes of seeing it made. That aint always going to happen BECAUSE its meant for small teams.

Dude think Big! Who cares about a fishing game that will only sell 3 copies once it is done. Instead of backing all these neat and cute ideas, we should be backing a company that has a high probability of getting the game done on time and deliver great quality.